Public support for doctors and nurses has waned in recent years, particularly among conservatives, as the sector has faced sedition criticism on everything from masking to distributing puberty blockers to children.
The proportion of Americans who think highly of doctors’ ethical standards has fallen from 77 percent at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to 62 percent by the end of 2022 — an unusually sharp 15-point drop over two years, Gallup says.
Nurses – and even pharmacists – have also seen their approval ratings plummet. They are all still far ahead of other professions such as lawyers, bankers and accountants, but the decline is sharp and worrying.
The discontent is particularly acute among Republicans, and comes as more and more sections of society are drawn into the culture wars that are making America a more divided and perhaps even less stable nation.
Public support for doctors and nurses has plummeted as the sector has been criticized for everything from excessive masking to distributing puberty blockers to children
Doctors are still far ahead of other professions such as lawyers, bankers and accountants, but the decline is sharp and worrying
Medicine has not been spared, with disputes over transgender child care, the introduction of “wake oaths” at medical schools and masks, vaccines and other public health measures during the pandemic.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is leading the charge against wokery in schools, but has also attacked mask mandates and vowed to investigate “misconduct” by the National Institutes of Health and other national health agencies.
dr Stanley Goldfarb, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said “inconsistencies” in public health news amid the pandemic and parental anger over grooming trans people had stirred up the sector.
“All of this has resulted in the public having less confidence in the recommendations of medical experts,” said Dr. Goldfarb to .
“Healthcare is in crisis, driven by political ideology. The solution is an evidence-based approach and reliance on strong scientific principles to clarify what care best serves patients.”
For many, there have been too many COVID rules, too strict, stuck for too long – especially for schoolchildren. Still others complained when the Centers for Disease Control said in 2021 vaccinated people could take off their masks.
A large anti-vaccine protest in New York City over vaccination and mask mandates in October 2021
opinion poll
Has the medical profession leaned too far towards progressives?
- Yes 257 votes
- No 10 votes
- Not sure 3 votes
The American Medical Association has a bust of its founder, Dr. Nathan Davis removed for racism
Anthony Fauci, the former White House chief medical advisor, has become the bogeyman for conservatives who have questioned his handling of the pandemic and accused him of undermining then-President Donald Trump.
The offering of surgeries, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors who identify as transgender, which has increased significantly over the past decade, has also infuriated some people with the medical profession, said Dr. gold colour.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups say “gender-affirming care,” as it’s known, can save trans children from misery and even suicide.
However, some experts and parents warn of an ideologically motivated fad that leaves teenagers hurt, regretted and even maimed.
Republicans across the country have tried to limit procedures, particularly among juveniles.
The DeSantis administration this week requested a wealth of information about students receiving trans treatment at Florida campuses, furthering its policies to question or limit treatment of trans people.
“The approach taken by many medical societies has also caused despair, particularly among parents who have seen their children exposed to the potential of drugs and even surgery that can cause irreversible damage,” said Dr. gold colour.
Critics have also slammed the “Awakened” oaths being instituted at medical schools, including the University of Minnesota’s new mantra in which freshmen pledge to challenge white supremacy and embrace Indigenous medicine.
The decline in support for nurses and doctors is particularly pronounced among Republican voters
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is increasingly critical of medicine
Others point to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) decision in February 2021 to erect the statue of its founder, Dr. To remove Nathan Davis, who promoted racist politics in the 19th century.
Doctors have described changes in healthcare policies and attitudes amid a wave of progressive activism during COVID and after the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minnesota.
They also complain of stress, long hours and other problems at work. A survey by Qualtrics, a tech company, found this week that nearly two-fifths of healthcare workers said they were at risk of burnout and are considering quitting.
dr Suneel Dhand, a doctor and life coach who works in the US and UK and has a large online following, voiced his concerns on social media this week.
“When I was a medical student, I could never have imagined in a million years that telling a natural man he didn’t need a pregnancy test or telling an obese person that their body fat was making them very unhealthy would be extremely controversial every day.” ‘ wrote Dr. Dhand.
“God bless American ‘progress’.”
has reached out to the AMA, as well as the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Board of Medical Specialties for comment.
They declined or did not respond.
Gallup, which has tracked the honesty and ethics of professions since 1976, says the public rallied behind doctors and nurses and the onset of the pandemic as they were on the front lines battling a surge in deaths.
But that changed quickly.
“Pharmacists … now record their lowest ethics rating in four decades of measurement (58 percent) by one point,” the researchers said.
“Doctors’ ratings are at their lowest since 1999 and nurses’ ratings are at their lowest since 2004.”
At the same time, Americans are increasingly complaining about their standards of medical care.
For the first time since Gallup began asking this question two decades ago, a majority — 52 percent — of Americans rated health care in the U.S. as below average, with 31 percent calling it “just fair” and 21 percent calling it ” bad”.
For the first time since Gallup began asking this question two decades ago, a majority — 52 percent — of Americans rated health care in the United States as below average
Doctors, nurses – and even pharmacists – are still far ahead of other professions such as lawyers, bankers and accountants, but the drop in support is sharp and worrying